Malicious Intent (12 page)

‘Providing there were no other injuries, it could be explained by movement of the victim’s head as his cheek bled.’

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‘Is it customary for someone who is being held down at knifepoint to thrash his head around?’

‘No –’

‘Well, then, why was the safe free of blood if the cheek injury was bleeding?’

Anya wasn’t being allowed to effectively answer a question.

‘On the information available, it’s not possible to say.’

Vaughan Hunter stepped forward and took over the examination.

‘Well, Doctor, what
can
you say?’

‘I can say that the photos are inconsistent with the history given by the shop owner. The wounds on his cheek are almost certainly hesitation injuries, which are characteristic of self-inflicted wounds. That would account for the lack of blood on and near the safe.’

‘Thank you, Doctor.’

The second lawyer stood. ‘Dr. Crichton. In your opinion, is this a fraudulent insurance claim?’

‘Based on the information I have been given, I am unable to comment on that. I have been asked to give an opinion on the cause and extent of the injuries, and whether they correlate with the history given by the alleged victim.’

‘Come on, you’ve seen cases like this before. Surely, it’s a classic case of fraud. You and I both know it, even the jury knows it. So in your opinion, is this a classic case of a shop owner staging a robbery, cutting his own face, but not sufficiently to cause damage, for the purpose of cheating the insurance system?’

Anya refused to be baited. ‘As I said before, I am unable to comment on fraudulent activity. Only on the information supplied to me for an opinion.’

‘So with all your training and expertise, not to mention your exorbitant fees for an opinion, you can’t tell us if it’s likely that the owner staged the whole robbery or not?’

Anya calmly restated, ‘The wounds in the picture are typical of self-inflicted injuries. That is all I can say.’

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‘Thank you. That is all.’

When it came to feedback, Vaughan praised Anya’s performance, freezing the video on her posture, hands clasped on her lap, and the calm tone of her voice. He described her as a credible and sympathetic witness who had enough authority to convince a jury without seeming arrogant. The lawyers praised her for refusing to be drawn into an argument, or comment on points irrelevant to her task. Anya felt both relief and a sense of proud embarrassment.

At the end of the session, Vaughan left before she could thank him or say good-bye. She handed in her key at reception and received an envelope with her name handwritten on it.

Inside, the note read:

See how quickly you move forward when you’re off balance? Who
knows what you’re capable of outside your comfort zone! Thanks
for making the weekend a success.Vaughan.

Anya felt her face blush again.

14

At four o’clock the following morning, the high-pitched beep of a pager penetrated Anya’s consciousness. Heart jolting, she rolled over and fumbled for the source of the noise on her bedside table. The prefix of blurry red numbers belonged to Northern Base Hospital’s sexual assault unit. With a shortage of doctors qualified to examine a rape victim, Anya had agreed to be on call as often as possible at night. She understood why so few doctors volunteered for the training but, at this hour, she still cursed the abstainers for being so selfish.

She hit the touch lamp and dialed the unit, who confirmed they had a woman requiring examination ASAP. Anya climbed back into her jeans and the clean bra and cotton shirt laid out in case of a call out. With casual attire appropriate in the middle of the night, she combed her hair into a loose bun with her fingers and secured it with a large clip. She quickly glanced in the mirror and removed the black smears from yesterday’s eye makeup.

Within twenty minutes she was at the hospital, outside the unit located between occupational therapy and dietetics, away from the main hospital building. An eccentric-looking, middle-aged woman unlocked the entrance door.

‘Good to meet you. I’m Mary Singer – the one you spoke 90

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to, in case you weren’t totally awake.’ She closed and locked the door behind Anya. ‘We’ve got Gloria Havelock, a fifty-five-year-old who works as a night packer in a supermarket. She finished work at midnight and was attacked as she unlocked her car. Two men forced her to drive to Lane Cove park at knifepoint and assaulted her. She’s in pretty bad shape. Took a hell of a beating,’ the counselor almost whispered. ‘She’s more worried about her teenage daughters than herself. The rapists stole her handbag with her license, address, house keys and photos of the girls. They threatened to rape them if she told the police.’

‘Is anyone with them?’ Anya pulled some sleep from her lower eyelid.

‘The police went round straightaway. The husband’s overseas at a family funeral.’

Anya could already picture Gloria Havelock. A middle-aged mother who put her family first, even working nights to sup-plement the family income. ‘Have the injuries been assessed?’

‘The lacerations on her head and face have been sutured.

Cerebral CT scan was clear. Put up a pretty good fight, by the looks of her.’

‘Any analgesia on board?’

‘Just the local anesthetic.’

‘What about orally?’

‘Nothing by mouth, as per the protocol.’

‘Thanks. We’d better start with the consent. By the way, who found her?’

‘She crawled to Fullers Road and knocked on the door of the first house she came to. The old couple who live there were too scared to open the door and called the police. The patrol car brought her to emergency.’

Anya was relieved to be dealing with an experienced counselor who understood the need to preserve evidence.

Well-wishers making a cup of tea for a distraught victim could do more harm than good in the long term. If oral sex had taken place, a simple drink of water could destroy vital evidence that could mean the difference between conviction and acquittal.

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Anyone involved had to remember that Gloria’s body was in fact part of a crime scene and had to be treated as exactly that in case she wanted further police involvement.

The two women entered the room, united in their difficult task. Mary locked the only other door to the outside world.

‘Gloria, this is Dr. Crichton, the one I told you about.’

‘Please, it’s Anya, if you’d prefer.’

The woman sat on a blue lounge chair, draped in a hospital gown and blanket. Stitches zigzagged across her nose, forehead and chin, which were only briefly visible when she looked at Anya. The rest of the time she was hunched with her face close to her lap. Blood matted the dark, wavy hair on her crown.

Gloria’s demeanor was typical of the many sexual assault victims Anya had seen in England. Although she’d only been called in to this unit once before, she knew one thing: irrespective of religion or age, women responded in similar ways to the incredible violation of rape.

Anya moved slowly closer and touched the woman’s forearm. ‘You’re shivering. Would you like another blanket?’ Before waiting for an answer, Mary pulled a polar fleece blanket from the cupboard and placed it across Gloria’s lap.

‘Thank you,’ she mouthed.

Anya sat in one of the two armchairs on the other side of a coffee table. Mary Singer occupied the other.

‘I’m here for two main purposes,’ Anya began. ‘The first and most important reason is to look after you, to make sure you’re okay and safe. The second is to do a forensic examination, but only if you want it. That means an examination to see if there has been any transfer of material onto your body from the men who did this to you. This is necessary if you are thinking that you might want the police involved. You don’t have to make a decision about the police now, but the examination needs to be done as soon as possible to ensure that the material is collected.

One thing we look for is traces of DNA, which is like a genetic fingerprint. DNA may be present if the attackers lick, bite, kiss, 92

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ejaculate or bleed, if you struggled with them. It can even be found in hair.’

Gloria looked up and Anya caught a glimpse of dark brown eyes, wounded and pleading for mercy.

‘It may not seem like it, Gloria, but you have choices right now. We offer counseling, medical treatment with or without a physical examination, and a full medical and forensic examination. I won’t do anything without your permission, so I’ll explain what is involved every step of the way. If you agree, then we can go ahead, but you can also withdraw your consent at any time.’

Gloria looked across at Anya.

‘What if I want you to stop?’

‘I will. You’re in control. It’s important you know that agreeing to be examined in no way means that the information and samples I obtain go straight to the police. I can’t do that without your express written permission, but before you make up your mind, you need to know and understand the implications of a decision either way.’

The woman shook her head. ‘I don’t want my daughters to hear what happened.’

‘That’s all right. There’s no rush; you don’t have to decide right now. I’d say about seventy percent of women need time to think about it. So for now, why don’t we talk about the examination, what it involves and what the samples mean.’

The woman nodded, suddenly subservient. She stared at the blanket again. ‘Do what you have to do.’

Anya opened the Sexual Assault Investigation Kit at the second page. She moved next to Gloria with a pen and explained the booklet and first consent form.

‘Remember, you can stop at any time, and this is only a consent to be examined, not a consent to release the information or samples to the police. The booklet is a record that can be produced in court, if you decide to go to the police. It is separate from your hospital records and stays here in the sexual assault unit. The only way anyone else will see it is if it’s KATHRYN FOX

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subpoenaed, and that only happens if you go to the police and make a statement.

‘There’s a separate consent form at the back if you decide you want the police involved. That one’s a legal document and has to be witnessed, but can be signed later. Do you understand everything I’ve said?’

‘Yes, you’ve explained it clearly,’ Gloria said. She read and signed the first consent form.

Anya silently documented the apparent facial bruising and injuries in the medical records booklet. She glanced at the blood on a plastic-backed sheet placed on the bench above the cupboards to dry. Underwear should be collected but if the attackers took it, the next best thing was the sheet on which a woman bled after an attack.

‘I’m going to have to ask you some things about your medical history, and what happened to you tonight. Some of the questions are about your gynecological history. Do you still get periods?’

‘I haven’t had one for two years, until . . .’ Gloria said in a quiet voice, and then stood quickly. ‘I don’t want to bleed on your lounge.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Mary said. ‘There’s a blue-backed sheet underneath you that is waterproof. Not much longer now and we can get you showered and into some fresh clothes. We keep some here just for this purpose.’

Gloria sat down again and resumed her defensive posture.

Anya followed the protocol, asking about gynecological surgery and relevant medical problems before broaching the exact details of the assault, which she knew would be difficult.

After driving to the park with a knife at her throat, Gloria had been dragged into the park and assaulted by the men, whose faces she didn’t recognize. One of the men held her down on the ground with her arms above her head, while the other used the knife to cut open her clothes, before he raped her vaginally with his fingers, followed by his penis. The other man took his turn. She had no idea how long she’d been with 94

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the men, but they raped her six times before beating her, holding up her keys and promising to rape her daughters. If she went to the police, they’d kill her. Like so many rapists, they threatened to hunt her down. Like so many victims, she believed them.

Anya paraphrased Gloria’s words, careful not to quote her directly in the notes. She’d learned from experience that defense lawyers could use her documentation to discredit the victim, if it didn’t match exactly with the police statement.

Following such a brutal attack, the vaginal bleeding concerned Anya. She needed to identify the source and severity, for Gloria’s sake.

‘I’d like to know where the bleeding is coming from, and how bad it is. With assaults like this, sometimes women get bladder and bowel problems, which can become medical emergencies if not detected and picked up quickly.’

‘I’ll let you check me, but I don’t want to answer any more of the police’s questions.’

‘That’s fine. You don’t have to decide right now. You’ve got a couple of days to think about it.’

Mary helped Gloria to her feet and into the adjacent room.

An examination bed, cupboard full of new clothes in various sizes, and a small bathroom with shower had more of a motel feel than that of a hospital. Mary and Anya did everything possible to make sure the examination did not feel like a continuation of the assault.

Anya put on gloves, opened the rest of the kit and lined up the sample tubes. She examined Gloria’s head first, careful to keep her covered for as long as possible and only revealing what was necessary at the time. Each bruise, scratch and mark was thoroughly documented in words and on a body chart in the booklet. Grass seeds from her hair were collected to compare with those at the scene of the assault.

Gloria’s fingernails held some blood and dirt beneath them.

Red and black marks circled both wrists, consistent with her being held down and scratching at dirt and her attackers.

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‘It looks like you got some tissue from at least one of the men who did this to you,’ Anya noted.